Who was the best Doctor Who?

Eleven different actors have officially portrayed the galaxy-hopping Time Lord, and the latest - Scottish actor Peter Capaldi, 55 - takes over at the end of the year.

A recent online survey run by nzherald.co.nz asked readers which actor was their favourite in the role, and from the results a top 10 list (below) has been compiled.

Voting was incredibly close between the top three, with just one vote deciding the winner. The only actor who did not get any votes was the sixth Doctor with the multicoloured coat, Colin Baker.

Doctor Who was first broadcast in 1963 and is now one of the BBC's most popular programs, both in Britain and abroad. Its longevity is due partly to the flexibility of the premise. The Doctor can regenerate into new bodies and can travel to any point in space or time.

Doctor Who ran from 1963 to 1989, and was revived to acclaim in 2005. Since then, the Doctor has been played by Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith, who took the part in 2010.

This November the programme will celebrate its fiftieth birthday with a special episode bringing Tennant and Smith together in the same adventure, and also featuring a mysterious "missing" doctor, played by John Hurt.

Peter Cushing also played the role in two Dalek-based movies in the 1960s, while Rowan Atkinson, Richard E Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley all played the Doctor in the 1999 comedy special The Curse Of Fatal Death.

HERALD READERS' FAVOURITE DOCTORS:

- nzherald.co.nz